


Matter of Morals

by C1ashi1dr



Series: Thirteen Fanzine Prompt Week [7]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Game Night, Gen, Just the Fam being idiots, Monopoly (Board Game), The Doctor can't play board games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24599704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C1ashi1dr/pseuds/C1ashi1dr
Summary: The Doctor and the Fam play Monopoly. What follows could only be expected.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Graham O'Brien, Thirteenth Doctor & Ryan Sinclair, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan, Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan & Graham O'Brien & Ryan Sinclair
Series: Thirteen Fanzine Prompt Week [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770349
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Matter of Morals

**Author's Note:**

> here it is! the last day's piece, and i got to end it on some fluff. thank god for that, huh? Honestly, i think i just love the idea of 13 being a little gremlin who can't play board games so you may see some stuff related to that soon. this is for [@thirteenfanzine's](https://thirteenfanzine.tumblr.com/) prompt week, with the seventh prompt of "It's Not Always Black And White". Enjoy!

The Doctor leans over the table, staring at the bits and pieces scattered around. She pauses for a moment, thinking before looking up at Ryan. He looks close to biting his nails, though Yaz, who sits between the two of them, watching her with bored eyes. The Doctor knows she's probably taking a bit too long with her decisions, but things like this can't be rushed. She's learned that the hard way.

"You do know it's your turn, right?" Yaz asks, as if the Doctor could have possibly forgotten. Ryan hushes her immediately, turns his gaze back to the Doctor, waits for her move. She's still staring at the board, thinking hard about her next move. The clock on the wall behind her ticks impatiently but she tunes that out as well, fiddling with the small slips of paper between her fingers. Things must be done precisely, there's no room for error. Finally she makes her decision.

"Two houses on St. James," the Doctor declares eventually, looking up at Ryan. He's got control of the bank this go around, after the Doctor "abusing privileges" last time they'd all played together. So what if she'd taken more than her fair share last time, she, like any normal banker, charged wages for the services she provided. She didn't see why it wasn't fair if she was doing a ton of extra work in the long run.

It's game night aboard the TARDIS, something Ryan started as a way to unwind from long adventures or stints in the past. He found a lot of strange games through their travels and kept them stored in the shelves in one of the more empty media rooms. It had taken a bit of negotiating with the TARDIS (namely a promise that the Doctor would stop playing with the kitchen appliances), but eventually she'd opened up a library of other board games that he could choose from. Ever since, it has become a staple of the unwinding routine of Team TARDIS. Usually Ryan, Yaz, and Graham played while the Doctor worked on the TARDIS or lounged on the sofa in the media room but there were times when she'd drop everything to play with them. This is one of those occasions but only because of the game: Monopoly.

She was brilliant with money. Well, not brilliant, but good. Good enough at the very least, and she played Monopoly a lot with her other companions, usually just throwing bills about willy nilly. She'd never won a game but it never failed to make anyone laugh. 

"Right, that's 600 dollars," Ryan says, glancing at the cards on the Doctor's side of the table. She frowns slightly, lips pursing.

"I said two houses," she says shortly. "200 dollars, should be if I did my maths right. And I did." Ryan opens his mouth to protest, but she interjects, holding up the card. "It says 100 dollars per house right there. I can read this time around, thankfully." She fixes them both with a challenging gaze, daring her to defy her. "I said two houses, so I pay 200 dollars."

"That's not the rules, Doctor," Yaz says, and she sounds like she's trying to be serious but she's giggling slightly. "And you know it." Even Graham snorts quietly from the couch, where he's propped himself for the evening, reading some book or another.

"Two houses," she repeats slowly, as if talking to children. "100 dollars per house." She may as well be, with the way they're smiling and looking at each other. "Is there something I'm missing here?"

"You gotta buy a house for every property," Graham interjects from the sofa. He'd opted out for this very reason. Not that the Doctor is bad at playing the game, she's just a bit rusty on all the rules, at least for these humans. "So you want two houses on St. James, you gotta buy a house for all of the properties." He pauses, then adds, "That's the rules."

"But that's stupid," she says. "And not how housing development works in the slightest. I've got all the land, I should be allowed to put houses where I choose. This is nothing like real life."

"It's the rules," Ryan says and the Doctor frowns.

"Really starting to get tired of you lot saying that," she says. "Let me see the rules." She holds out her hand, waits for the booklet to be placed in them and skims through the pages. She flicks through them so quickly one of the pages almost flies out. The Fam looks a little startled but they take it in stride, Ryan seizing control of the booklet once more. There's a moment of silence before the Doctor says. "The rules are stupid."

"Why did you agree to play then?" Yaz asks, still giggling. "If you aren't going to follow the rules?"

"You lot know me," the Doctor answers. "When do you think I would ever follow the rules? I'm the Doctor, I don't follow rules!" 

"You did during last week's game," Ryan points out, leaning forward on his elbows. "Look, you either get the houses or you don't. It's really a matter of whether you can afford them or not." 

She can afford them, the Doctor knows she can. She's gotten lucky this round, gotten a good amount of money saved up. But it's the principle of the matter that's bugging her. 

"C'mon Doctor, make a decision. Pay or don't pay. You're taking too long," Yaz groans, slumping forward on the table. She keeps an eye on the Doctor through the gaps in her fingers but her eyes are bored. 

"It's not always black and white, Yaz," the Doctor snaps, though her tone isn't as snappish as it is rushed and slightly panicked. She starts together the bills, but doesn't hand them over just yet. "This is a huge decision, I can't rush it." Before she can react or do anything to stop it, Yaz's hand shoots out, snatches up the wad of bills and gives it to Ryan.

"Give her the houses, let's move on," Yaz says and the Doctor stares at her, appalled.

"Surely that's against the rules," the Doctor protests even as Ryan hands her the little plastic houses. They were bought with stolen money, the Doctor isn't sure she wants them. "Tell me that's against the rules?"

"It's like you just said, Doc," Ryan says, handing the dice to Yaz, who's smiling smugly. "It's not always black and white." And while she gives an indignant huff, they're laughing and the Doctor probably won't admit it aloud but seeing them smile and have fun is a relief after the last few days. It's worth the hefty betrayal from her companion.

**Author's Note:**

> When i started off this week, i had not anticipated working so late to finish each of these pieces. However, i'm really happy with what came of it and i'm glad for the chance to swerve back into writing the Fam being the Fam. It's certainly been a ride and i want to thank everyone who's left a kudos or a comment. y'all are the best, seriously. 
> 
> as usually, check me out on tumblr ( [@joanwolfe](https://joanwolfe.tumblr.com/) ) and also the lovely people who organized this whole prompt week: [@thirteenfanzine](https://thirteenfanzine.tumblr.com/) . please head on over to their tumblr and show them some love. there have been some other artists participating in this prompt week and the work they've created is so awesome guys. even consider getting the fanzine, it's for a good cause and has some awesome work in it. 
> 
> until next time, chickens
> 
> ~~ jo


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